Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies

There has been an increasing interest in science, technology and innovation policy studies in the topic of policy mixes. While earlier studies conceptualised policy mixes mainly in terms of combinations of instruments to support innovation, more recent literature extends the focus to how policy mixes can foster sustainability transitions. For this, broader policy mix conceptualisations have emerged which also include considerations of policy goals and policy strategies; policy mix characteristics such as consistency, coherence, credibility and comprehensiveness; as well as policy making and implementation processes. It is these broader conceptualisations of policy mixes which are the subject of the special issue introduced in this article. We aim at supporting the emergence of a new strand of interdisciplinary social science research on policy mixes which combines approaches, methods and insights from innovation and policy studies to further such broader policy mix research with a specific focus on fostering sustainability transitions. In this article we introduce this topic and present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on policy mixes in both fields as well as their emerging connections. We also introduce five major themes in the policy mix literature and summarise the contributions made by the articles in the special issue to these: methodological advances; policy making and implementation; actors and agency; evaluating policy mixes; and the co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems. We conclude by summarising key insights for policy making.     

The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions

Understanding how policymaking processes can influence the rate and direction of socio-technical change towards sustainability is an important, yet underexplored research agenda in the field of sustainability transitions. Some studies have sought to explain how individual policy instruments can influence transitions, and the politics surrounding this process. We argue that such individual policy instruments can cause wider feedback mechanisms that influence not only their own future development, but also other instruments in the same area. Consequently, by extending the scope of analysis to that of a policy mix allows us to account for multiple policy effects on socio-technical change and resultant feedback mechanisms influencing the policy processes that underpin further policy mix change. This paper takes a first step in this regard by combining policy studies and innovation studies literatures to conceptualise the co-evolutionary dynamics of policy mixes and socio-technical systems. We focus on policy processes to help explain how policy mixes influence socio-technical change, and how changes in the socio-technical system also shape the evolution of the policy mix. To do so we draw on insights from the policy feedback literature, and propose a novel conceptual framework. The framework highlights that policy mixes aiming to foster sustainability transitions need to be designed to create incentives for beneficiaries to mobilise further support, while overcoming a number of prevailing challenges which may undermine political support over time. In the paper, we illustrate the framework using the example of the zero carbon homes policy mix in the UK. We conclude with deriving research and policy implications for analysing and designing dynamic policy mixes for sustainability transitions.     

Mapping the mix: Linking instruments,settings and target groups in the study of policy mixes

This article proposes the extension of a conceptual framework aimed at analysing policy mixes and their outcomes and demonstrates its value added for the study of sustainability transitions. The argument is that policy mixes research should not focus only on the form of policy instruments, but also on their implementation context. Policy mix form designates the specific policy instruments that are involved according to a policy strategy. Policy mix context includes the specific setting where each policy measure is implemented, such as enterprise or family. It also includes the specific target group of each measure, such as youth or smokers. We apply this conceptual framework to the policy concept and implementation of tobacco control policies in Switzerland, which are an exemplary case for analysing transitions as they are geared towards behavioural change. In a mixed method approach, we triangulate different sets of quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to assess the implementation of eleven subnational policy mixes. Our findings show that taking into account the moderating role of settings between policy instruments and target groups allows for a more in depth analysis of policy processes. Observing the interactions between the four elements policy instruments, policy strategy, the implementation settings and the target groups allows capturing the complexity of policy mixes, at the crossroads of policy design, policy implementation and policy outcomes. Taking implementation settings and target groups into account in the analysis of policy mixes allows for a refined understanding of policy compliance and thus, from a broader perspective, of sustainability transitions.     

Integrating structural tensions into technological innovation systems analysis: Application to the case of transmission interconnections and renewable electricity in Nova Scotia,Canada

This paper augments the technological innovation systems (TIS) framework to provide policy guidance on how to manage interactions between a core technology and its larger sectoral context. A TIS development cycle is presented that combines the TIS framework’s ability to clearly illuminate policy gaps with Erik Dahmén’s idea that technological diffusion creates structural tensions that introduce transformation pressure. This pressure can result in stagnation and unrealized development potential or spur sectoral complementarities and the evolution of a TIS into a larger “development block” of interlinked technological systems. Integrating structural tensions into TIS analysis highlights how the evolution of a focal technology induces technological complementarities and creates a need to continuously re-design policies. This underscores the continued benefit of a technology system perspective, even as a technology matures.The revised TIS framework is applied to a case study of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that explores how variable renewable electricity diffusion introduces structural tensions with existing electricity grids, requiring the use of complementary technologies that add storage and flexibility. Nova Scotia aggressively developed wind energy and built a high-voltage direct-current transmission line to import hydroelectricity that could back-up variable renewable energy sources like wind.     

The verticality of policy mixes for sustainability transitions: A case study of solar water heating in China

Climate change and sustainable development are the defining challenges of the modern era. The field of sustainability transitions seeks systematic solutions for fundamental transformations of socio-technical systems towards sustainability, and exploring the role of policy mixes has been a central research agenda within the field. In the extant literature, there exists a lack of both conceptual and empirical research on the vertical dimension of policy mixes for sustainability transitions. This study provides a multilevel and evolutionary interpretation of the vertical interactions of policy mixes in the process of industrial path development towards sustainability transitions. An exemplary case of solar water heating (SWH) technology in Shandong Province in China is presented, capturing both the bottom-up and top-down processes of interactions. On the one hand, urban-level policy initiatives can inform higher-level policymaking; on the other hand, national-level priorities can greatly configure policy strategies for lower-level governments. Moreover, as the industry matures, the interactions of multilevel policy mixes evolve from simpler, unidirectional patterns to more complex, bidirectional ones through a vertical policy-learning feedback mechanism. This study generates two important policy implications that extend beyond the Chinese context: first, dynamic vertical interactions between multilevel governments indicate the need to develop more nuanced perspectives on the design of policy mixes; second, policy makers need to hold a more dynamic view of policy mixes by recognizing their temporal and coevolutionary nature through the policy learning process.     

Towards a typology of intermediaries in sustainability transitions: A systematic review and a research agenda

Intermediary actors have been proposed as key catalysts that speed up change towards more sustainable socio-technical systems. Research on this topic has gradually gained traction since 2009, but has been complicated by the inconsistency regarding what intermediaries are in the context of such transitions and which activities they focus on, or should focus on. We briefly elaborate on the conceptual foundations of the studies of intermediaries in transitions, and how intermediaries have been connected to different transition theories. This shows the divergence – and sometimes a lack – of conceptual foundations in this research. In terms of transitions theories, many studies connect to the multi-level perspective and strategic niche management, while intermediaries in technological innovation systems and transition management have been much less explored. We aim to bring more clarity to the topic of intermediaries in transitions by providing a definition of transition intermediaries and a typology of five intermediary types that is sensitive to the emergence, neutrality and goals of intermediary actors as well as their context and level of action. Some intermediaries are specifically set up to facilitate transitions, while others grow into the role during the process of socio-technical change. Based on the study, as an important consideration for future innovation governance, we argue that systemic and niche intermediaries are the most crucial forms of intermediary actors in transitions, but they need to be complemented by a full ecology of intermediaries, including regime-based transition intermediaries, process intermediaries and user intermediaries.     

Compulsive policy-making—The evolution of the German feed-in tariff system for solar photovoltaic power

In recent years, policy approaches that build upon the notion of innovation systems have enjoyed increasing attention in science, technology and innovation policy. But while the usefulness of systemic thinking in policy-making has been demonstrated in a large number of empirical settings, we still lack a detailed understanding of the dynamics at play when policy makers address systemic problems. In this paper, we show how complex interdependencies and the uncertain nature of technological change shape the process of targeted policy interventions in socio-technical systems. Toward this end we analyzed the evolution of the German feed-in tariff (FIT) system for solar photovoltaic power, a highly effective and widely copied policy instrument targeted at fostering the diffusion and development of renewable energy technologies. We find that the policy has been subject to a considerable amount of changes, many of which are the result of policy makers addressing specific system issues and bottlenecks. Interestingly, however, often these issues themselves were driven by unforeseen technological developments induced by previous policy interventions. We argue that the pattern of policy serving as both a solution to and a driver of technological bottlenecks shows strong similarities with what Rosenberg (1969) called ‘compulsive sequences’ in the development of technical systems. By shedding more light on how the characteristics of socio-technical systems affect policy interventions, our framework represents a first step toward more closely integrating the literature on innovation systems with the work on policy learning.     

The evolving relations between government agencies of innovation policymaking in emerging economies: A policy network approach and its application to the Chinese case

Literature on innovation policy reveals little of how relations between government agencies as policymakers evolve. Taking the policy network approach, this paper investigates three mechanisms underlining the evolution of inter-government agency relations in emerging economies – policy agenda, power concentration and heterogeneity dependence, and applies them to the analysis of the evolution of innovation policymaking in China. Operationally, the paper proposes a social network analysis (SNA)-based method to quantitatively study China’s innovation policy network, which consists of 463 innovation policy documents formulated by its central government ministries between 1980 and 2011. The findings show that the formal policy network for innovation has been not only sustained through the intervention of policy agendas but also self-organized because of policy network’s nature of power concentration and heterogeneity dependence. The presence of such mixed mechanisms in China’s innovation policy network’s evolution differs from the findings from industrialized countries where self-organization plays a central role. This work advances our theoretical understanding of the evolution of innovation policy network and has implications for innovation policymaking in emerging economies.     

政府补贴、税收优惠及其政策组合对科技企业孵化器绩效的影响——基于不同生命周期的实证研究

从政策组合视角探讨政府财税政策对孵化器绩效产生的影响，以及处于不同生命周期孵化器受影响的差异，为促进政府完善有关财税政策设计、推动科技企业孵化器高质量发展提供参考。基于广东省781家科技企业孵化器数据构建Logit多元回归模型，通过倾向得分匹配方法对倾向得分进行样本匹配，计算不同的财税政策及其组合对孵化器孵化绩效的平均处理效应。结果表明：政府补贴与税收优惠对科技企业孵化器孵化绩效均有显著促进作用，但两种政策组合的促进效果更为显著；对不同生命周期孵化器孵化绩效的影响具有异质性，两种政策组合对成长期与成熟期孵化器的孵化绩效均有显著促进作用，而仅受到政府补贴只对成长期孵化器的孵化绩效有显著促进作用，仅受到税收优惠的影响则均不显著。因此，提出政府在优化单项财税政策的同时灵活使用不同政策组合，并根据孵化器所处的不同生命周期进行调整，从而更有效地提升孵化器的孵化绩效。     

Technological innovation systems and the multi-level perspective: Towards an integrated framework

Technological innovation systems and the multi-level framework are closely related concepts for the study of far-reaching technological change. They draw on common theoretical roots and analyze similar empirical phenomena. However, they have developed rather independent research strands over the past few years. The paper reviews the state of the art of both concepts and explores commonalities as well as differences. Against this background, we outline first elements of a path towards an integrated framework that combines the strengths of the two approaches and allows providing a better understanding of radical innovation processes and socio-technical transformations.     

加强科技政策引导推动我国公共安全科技发展

通过对我国公共安全治理现状和“风险社会”理论的分析,阐述了公共安全科技对于我国公共安全治理的重要意义,并且在借鉴美国反恐科技政策的基础上,提出了我国政府运用科技政策来引导和推动公共安全科技发展的思路与措施。     

Innovation policy for system-wide transformation: The case of strategic innovation programmes (SIPs) in Sweden

The orientation towards grand societal challenges can be seen as a new wave or paradigm for innovation policy. Such policy aims at system-wide transformation and is often referred to as system innovation policy. While insights from transition studies have provided novel and useful rationales for innovation policy targeting system-wide transformation, it remains unclear how to design, implement and evaluate such policies. The contribution of this paper is to translate and concretize the challenges of system innovation policy towards scope for policy action and analysis. Building on insights from transition studies we group the challenges into four domains: directionality, experimentation, demand articulation, and policy coordination and learning. We relate challenges within the four domains to three generic features of innovation systems: interests and capabilities of actors, networks, and institutions. The derived framework is applied in a case study on the strategic innovation programmes, a recent policy initiative by Vinnova, Sweden’s Innovation Agency, targeting system innovation.     

Inter-generational transitions in socio-technical systems: The case of mobile communications

Many technology studies have conceptualized transitions between technological generations as a series of S-curve performance improvements over time. Surprisingly, the interregnum between successive generations has received little attention. To understand what happens in the interregnum, we study the transition from 2G to 3G in mobile communications. Our study identifies the presence of forces for both change and continuity across heterogeneous social and technical elements shaping an uneven transition between 2G and 3G mobile communications technology platforms. Unanticipated misalignments and asynchronies that emerged during the journey shifted the incentives of the various actors involved to participate. Based on these observations, we offer several conjectures as to the dynamics that can give rise to temporal discords during inter-generational technological transitions.     

江苏省大众创新创业政策评估研究

“大众创业、万众创新”成为我国经济发展新引擎,开展江苏省大众创新创业第三方政策评估研究,对现有国内外研究现状进行综述;基于社会网络分析方法,使用Netdraw工具绘制江苏省“双创”政策图谱,发现江苏省在创业扶持、企业技术创新方面政策措施较多,而在促进科技成果转化等方面网络较稀疏,政策文件较少。通过收集2014年和2015年有关创新创业指标值,开展政策实施效果定量分析,发现江苏省在激发就业活力、市场活力和创新活力方面取得了一定的成效,但在市场化机制、创业投融资机制等方面还存在不足,最后提出对策建议。     

企业国家重点实验室评估政策对创新搜索能力影响研究——基于政策助推性的视角

本文从组织层面探讨了企业国家重点实验室评估政策对创新搜索能力的影响作用。采用结构方程模型法分析了447份企业国家重点实验室的样本,建立了4个模型并对假设进行了检验。研究结果发现：企业国家重点实验室评估政策的政策助推性对创新搜索能力具有显著的正向作用,且三种创新搜索能力受到政策助推的影响依次为技术资源型、科教资源型和复杂开创型搜索能力。研究为优化企业国家重点实验室评估政策设计提供了数理依据。     

Emergence and evolution of new industries: The path-dependent dynamics of knowledge creation. An introduction to the special section

In this introduction, we review the arguments that underpin the rationale for the special section, and provide a structured sequence for the contents of the six selected papers that comprise the section.     

Emergent innovation systems and the delivery of clinical services: The case of intra-ocular lenses

This paper is an exploration of the dynamics of technical change in medicine. We argue that innovation in medicine is a process that is distributed across time, space and epistemic and institutional domains; that it entails the entrepreneurial effort of creative individuals as well as the emergence of correlated understanding among heterogeneous agents whose rules of interaction are contingently instituted in socio-economic systems along unfolding scientific and technological trajectories. We illustrate our arguments through an in-depth analysis of a major ophthalmologic innovation - the intra-ocular lens - that has literally transformed the treatment of cataract in the developed world and has the potential to do so in many developing countries. We investigate the advancement of clinical knowledge about the disease, the development of effective technological capabilities and the co-evolution of the supply capacity and demand of a micro-innovation system emerged along a specific sequence of interrelated problems, and associated solutions, which engaged scientists, technicians, practitioners, regulators and patients alike over a period of around three decades.     

Latecomer firms and the emergence and development of knowledge networks: The case of Petrobras in Brazil

This paper addresses the emergence and development of firm-centred knowledge networks within learning and innovation systems in late-industrialising countries. A key contribution of the paper is conceptual and methodological: the development of an original typology of knowledge network properties to trace out changes in the form of networks as they evolve over time. A second contribution consists in providing an example of the application of the typology by examining the emergence and development of a firm-centred knowledge network in the case of Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company over more than 30 years between the late 1960s and the early 2000s. This demonstrates that the properties of Petrobras’ knowledge networks continuously evolved through a succession of stages towards (i) increasing intentionality in the management decision-making underlying network development, (ii) growing complexity and diversity in selected cognitive characteristics, and (iii) greater complementarity in the division of innovative labour between Petrobras and its network partners. These original results from applying the typology, in conjunction with retrospective historical methods, illustrate only one aspect of its potential value in the analysis of knowledge networks in late-industrialising economies: tracking out organisational evolution over long periods of time. Others include the comparative examination of network differences across different circumstances and the analysis of relationships between changes/differences in network properties and other characteristics of learning/innovation systems and their contexts.     

The discrete charm of the bourgeoisie: quantum and continuous perspectives on innovation and growth

This paper discusses the relative merits of discrete versus continuous perspectives on innovation, technical change, and economic growth. It discusses the innovation time series literature in some detail to extract the continuous and clustering properties of the historical record on innovation. It then proposes a mosaic/avalanche model based on percolation theory and self-organized criticality to address this question.